Many layers ‘Luce’
Watts, Spencer relish roles in psychological thriller
NEW YORK — “Luce” casts Naomi Watts as Amy, a fiercely protective mother battling Octavia Spencer’s fiercely determined school teacher Harriet over a remarkable high school senior named Luce.
As these two sat side by side on a couch at the Whitby Hotel, it was clear they agree on Kelvin Harrison Jr., who plays Luce, an African war orphan adopted a decade earlier by Amy and her husband, Peter (Tim Roth).
A standout debater and class valedictorian, Luce finds his status jeopardized by his teacher’s accusations.
“It’s a psychological thriller that deals with power and privilege. In that conversation you deal with sexuality, race, so many topical issues,” Spencer, 47, said.
“It’s a film where the audience cannot be passive because there are so many different perspectives. You have to be an active participant and decide whom you believe.
“Kelvin,” she added, “had the heavy lifting, this duality to play. He has to convince me that there’s something going on just between the two of us. But, at the same time, maintain in front of everyone else that this is all in her mind.
“If he weren’t able to do that, the film wouldn’t work.”
“A teenager at that point is trying to break from his parents and find his course. And they have it all figured out for him, all planned. That’s something he’s going to push back on obviously,” Watts, 50, with two children of her own, said.
Whatever Luce did — or didn’t do — Watts’ protective tiger mother isn’t about to go there.
“She is absolutely 100 percent sure her kid’s a good kid. Through the course of his life he’s got to reach his full potential. She’s absolutely hellbent on that happening! There are not going to be any black marks on him.
“She’s got many blind spots,” Watts concluded, “and they are stopping her from seeing what’s really going on. She’s not asking questions and she’s lacking in curiosity just because she wants him to succeed no matter what.
“I can identify with a woman like that to a point.”
Spencer’s teacher is “an authority figure who’s all about maintaining excellence and privilege.”
“She has privilege,” Spencer said. “And the moment she’s questioned, she loses that. That was exciting for me because the same expectations that she places on Luce, were placed on her. And she suffered the repercussions of that.
“I found all that interesting — and fun to play.” (“Luce” opens Friday.)